Loxopholis percarinatum

Pertinent taxonomic references. Müller (1923), Noble (1923), Mertens (1925), Ruibal (1952), Cunha (1961), Uzzell & Barry (1971), Hoogmoed (1973), Ávila-Pires (1995), Pellegrino et al. (2001, 2003, 2011), Rodrigues & Ávila-Pires (2005), Castoe et al. (2004), Laguna et al. (2010), Rodrigues et al. (2013), Souza et al. (2015), Goicoechea et al. (2016). Taxonomic remarks. This is an unisexual lizard, of which both diploid and triploid populations are known, representing at least two independent lineages (Pellegrino et al. 2011). Recently, Souza et al. (2015) reported and described the first known males attributed to the species from two localities in northwestern Amazonia. The same authors did not find morphological differences between unisexual and the specimens from that localities, and suggested that the origin of parthenogenesis in L. percarinatum probably occurred on northern Amazonia near the area where the sexually dimorphic populations were found.

Distribution and habitat. Loxopholis percarinatum is endemic to, and widespread in, Amazonia, occurring in Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, and Peru (Fig. 14). Aguayo & Muñoz (2008) also reported it from Bolivia. In Brazil, it is known from the states of Amapá, Pará, Maranhão, Tocantins, Amazonas, Roraima, Rondônia, and Mato Grosso. Loxopholis percarinatum is terrestrial and diurnal, inhabits primary and secondary terra firme and flooded (varzea) forests, and swampy areas, where it is found among leaf litter (Vitt et al. 1999; Molina et al. 2004; Barrio-Amorós et al. 2011; Waldez et al. 2013). Even though it occurs in a variety of environments, it is frequently found along shaded water edges (Cunha 1961; Hoogmoed 1973; Martins 1991 b; Ávila-Pires 1995; Vitt & Zani 1998; Vitt et al. 2008).